ZEG

In his latest offering, conservative Australian cartoonist ZEG comments on the Las Vegas shootings





'Really awful': 50-degree days possible for Sydney, Melbourne, as warming worsens

Possible?  Possible?  So is Armageddon and the conversion of the Jews.  Below are just prophecies based on models that have never got a prophecy right yet.  One wonders why they continue to bother.  Below are just prophecies based on models that have never got a prophecy right yet.  One wonders why they continue to bother

Sydney and Melbourne can expect summer days when the mercury climbs to 50 degrees within a couple of decades if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, new research has found.

The study, led by Sophie Lewis at the Australian National University, analysed new models being prepared for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to examine the difference between a 1.5- and 2-degree warming limit compared with pre-industrial times.

At the upper end of the range – which would amount to a 1.1-degree rise from current global warming levels – NSW's record extremes would increase 3.8 degrees compared with existing records. Those in Victoria would rise by 2.3 degrees, the simulations showed.

For Sydney and Melbourne, populations could swelter in 50-degree weather even if the 2-degree global warming limit agreed in the 2015 Paris accord were achieved, according to the research co-authored by Andrew King from Melbourne University and published Wednesday in Geophysical Research Letters.

"If we warm average temperatures, we shift the whole distribution of temperatures, and we see a really large percentage increase in the extremes," Dr Lewis told Fairfax Media.

"What seems like a small increase in average temperatures, say 1 degree, can lead to a two- or three-fold acceleration in the severity of the extremes."

Under a high carbon emissions scenario, 50-degree days could arrive "as early as the 2040s", Dr Lewis said, adding that even with a concerted reduction in pollution, those temperatures could be reached by about 2060.

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Farmer bombarded with vile and graphic abuse after posting photo of herself with same-sex marriage ballot

A farmer who opposes gay marriage has been bombarded with abusive Facebook messages and death threats for posting an image of herself with a postal vote ballot.

Kirralie Smith, from northern New South Wales, was advised to stand in front of a train by one abusive man who also wished she would get AIDS, the disease which has killed millions of gay men since the 1980s.

Ms Smith said the abuse made her feel 'violated' and the content - including graphic hardcore pornography - is beyond anything she could have imagined.

'I did expect some haters to respond but I was unprepared for the barrage of hate, vulgar messages and threats I received,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'I notice that lesbians such as Christine Forster posed for such photos with her partner. Did they cop the same level of vitriol and hatred for doing so?'

The level of vitriol has left Ms Smith questioning why she should be forced to deal with such hateful responses to a simple photograph.

'Do I just have to suck this up? Are people really entitled to behave in such a manner when all I did was post a legal and acceptable option when participating in this postal survey?' she said.

I am not breaking any laws. I am upholding a current law. I am using my democratic right to exercise my choice. Why should I be subject to such horrid remarks and images for doing so?'

In addition to the hateful messages, insults and death threats, some social media users even sent offensive images.

One such image is from a hardcore pornographic film and depicts two men involved in a sex act.

'You're a piece of s***,' 'I really hope you get hit by a bus,' 'You need a bullet,' and 'I wish nothing but bad for you and your family,' are some of the other messages.

Ms Smith was told to 'Eat a d***,' called a 'homophobic b****,' a 'nasty nasty cow,' a 'f***wit,' and told to 'Rot in hell.'

The avalanche of abuse comes after weeks of accusations from the 'no' campaign that a fringe element of the 'yes' side are shutting down debate with abuse and violence.

Last week a priest was spat at while walking down the street in Brisbane and called 'a f***ing no voter'.

After former prime minister Tony Abbott was headbutted by an anarchist DJ wearing a Yes badge, activists started using 'Headbutt homophobes' banners at rallies.

Dr Francisco Perales at the University of Queensland suggested opponents of same-sex marriage are less intelligent.

Lecturers Catherine Greenhill and Diana Combe at the University of New South Wales have told maths students not to use the word marriage.

A 'yes' voter was caught on film in Chatswood in Sydney's north racially abusing 'no' campaigners.

Students at the University of Sydney clashed when a 'no' campaign rally turned violent after 'yes' campaign counter-protesters turned up.

Just days later a gay man was viciously heckled at a similar rally at the University of Queensland and accused of 'internalised homophobia'.

A Coalition for Marriage event was disrupted by protesters who stormed the venue and blocked the stage with a banner saying 'Burn churches not queers'.

Vandals attacked a church in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, spray-painting it with 'Vote Yes' slogans.

Gay anarchists took over the former headquarters of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and scrawled hateful anti-police slurs on the walls.

'Sometimes find myself wondering if I'd hate-f**k all the anti-gay MPs in parliament if it meant they got the homophobia out of their system,' wrote openly-gay comedian and Safe Schools author Benjamin Law to his 77,000 Twitter followers.

A Canberra woman was fired for saying 'It's okay to vote no' on Facebook, with her boss Madlin Sims calling it 'homophobic hate speech'.

Dr Pansy Lai - who appeared in the first Coalition of Marriage advertisement - was targeted by a petition seeking to have her stripped of her medical licence.

The most recent Sky News ReachTel poll of 5,000 people found 64 per cent have voted 'yes', 15.5 per cent have voted 'no' and 21 per cent are yet to vote.

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Same-sex marriage vote: Chris Hayes seeks safeguards for religious freedoms

Labor MP Chris Hayes has spoken out to defend those who fear same-sex marriage could curb ­religious freedoms, arguing that the issue of protection must be ­addressed to ensure “laws do not violate one’s genuinely held ­beliefs and conscience”.

Mr Hayes, the chief opposition whip, said he “appreciated” ­arguments that enacting same-sex marriage could “impact on ­religious freedoms, teaching of doctrine, and the functioning of faith-based organisations such as schools, aged-care and welfare agencies.”

“These are legitimate concerns and matters I believe have to be addressed,” he said. “It is not just the issue of same-sex marriage that may impinge on religious freedom. Therefore, I believe steps should be taken to protect ­religious liberty.”

Mr Hayes’ statement — which endorses concerns raised by John Howard — was provided to The Australian as an update from ­Australian Bureau of Statistics ­indicated nearly 60 per cent of ­eligible Australians had already voted in Malcolm Turnbull’s $122 million postal poll.

The first of a series of weekly estimates confirmed that as of Friday, September 29, the ABS had received 9.2 million survey forms, or 57.5 per cent of those mailed out — although many more Aus­tralians would have since posted their ballots.

Mathias Cormann, the government minister responsible for the survey, said the update showed people were “enthusiastically embracing the opportunity to have their say on whether the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry.”

“By any measure, 57.5 per cent five weeks out from the deadline for survey forms to be returned is very credible,” he said. “I am very confident that the ultimate outcome of the survey will have great authority.”

Mr Hayes’s statement confirmed his ongoing opposition to same-sex marriage and followed the public comments of Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley — another No voter — who claimed she had been urged by senior ALP figures to pretend to support a change to the Marriage Act against her conscience.

“I have been accused of not having an open mind on this matter and some have said I am just doing the bidding of the church.

“I am not sure how you can have an open mind when it comes to the matter of personal beliefs,” Mr Hayes said.

“I have always felt it is better for children growing up with the love and support of a mother and father.”

Mr Hayes, a Catholic, said he understood the love same-sex couples had for their children and would “never cast aspersions on them, their families, or belittle the love they share”. While he has not campaigned for the No case, Mr Hayes said if the result were in favour of change, he would “not act to frustrate or delay the passage of legislation to give effect to the community’s decision.”

Activist group GetUp! yesterday said most ­people were voting Yes in the survey, pointing to a ReachTel poll of almost 5000 Australians that shows that 64 per cent of those ­surveyed had voted for change.

Executive director of the Equality Campaign Tiernan Brady said the ABS update was “really good in terms of turnout” and a million more forms were in the post on their way to the ABS.

Spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage Lyle Shelton said: “The high turnout demonstrates that the Australian public understand the gravity of the decision before us, and that they know it has consequences for everyone.”

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Even if you think it’s all a load of bull, you have a farmer to thank for our unique language

RECENTLY I wrote of a time when Australia rode on the sheep’s back. And now, in the midst of the Melbourne Show, it’s timely to look at how much of our language rides on agriculture’s back.

You’d be surprised how many of our everyday sayings have their origins on the farm — and how often we use them.

Gone bananas, pecking order and bee’s knees are terms with a direct link to the farm.

’Til the cows come home, final straw and feeling clucky are on high rotation, with little thought to their agricultural heritage.

There’s a bull in a china shop, get on your goat, cool as a cucumber and cream of the crop. We all know exactly what each means and all came from the paddock. We hear on the grapevine not to put all our eggs in one basket and, that old chestnut, ensure all our ducks are in a row.

We feel penned in, piggyback on others and we reap what we sow — particularly if you sow your wild oats. We hit the hay, go for a roll in the hay (see wild oats), search for a needle in a haystack and make hay while the sun shines.

We fly cattle class, conduct a straw poll and invariably don’t play for sheep stations, which is lucky because it’s rarely a level playing field.

Some words and terms fit nicely into particular scenarios. Finance, for instance, has plenty to work with. Investors feel bullish when the stock market is on a bull run. Conversely, they feel sheepish if they get fleeced by the market.

Farm words and footy are like peas in a pod.

The players run down the race on to the field (or, in the 1990s, Pagan’s Paddock) wearing a guernsey a jersey or, once upon a time, a woolly jumper.

The Gold Coast Suns are rarely within a bull’s roar of the other team, often lambs to the slaughter because their forwards couldn’t hit a barn door. (Or as a mate said the other day: “They couldn’t get a kick in a cowshed.”)

Joel Selwood is known to butter up the umpires and milk free kicks, while we all assumed Patrick Dangerfield was a sacred cow and the apple of the umpire’s eye until he was rubbed out for a dangerous tackle. At least it wasn’t a chicken-wing.

The Tigers hope to rule the roost tomorrow to bring home the bacon, having upset the Adelaide apple cart.

Meanwhile, Buckley kept his job because he “ain’t got the cattle”, so wasn’t to blame, and Fev is still running around like a headless chook for country and suburban clubs. Mad Monday sees players carrying on like a pork chop, while there’s been a lot of players known to have a kangaroo loose in the top paddock.

And it spreads beyond footy.

We have a pig in a poke, red rag to a bull, apple of my eye and going against the grain.

Say cheese, have an apple a day to keep the doctor away and, in a nutshell, you’re either a bad egg or a good egg. Eventually we will be put out to pasture and before long there will be a visit from the grim reaper when we kick the bucket (the popular view is that the bucket in this expression is a yoke that harnessed pigs before they were slaughtered).

Finally, you could think this column is a cock-and-bull story, is corny and that you are pig-sick of it.

But even if you think it’s all a load of bull, you have a farmer to thank for our unique language.

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Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here